32Removal of unattended vehicles from certain places

32 Removal of unattended vehicles from certain places (1) A police officer or authorised person may move an unattended vehicle from a road or road related area to a retention area— (a) if the vehicle is unlawfully parked; or (b) if the police officer or authorised person believes on reasonable grounds that the vehicle is causing, or is likely to cause, a danger to the public or an unreasonable obstruction to other users of the road or road related area; or (c) in any other circumstances prescribed by regulation. (2) As soon as practicable after moving the vehicle to a retention area, the police officer or authorised person must report the action to the police officer in charge of the closest police station and ask that the responsible person for the vehicle (or other person entitled to possession of the vehicle) be told where it has been moved to.

Traffic management Part 7 (3) A vehicle moved to a retention area is taken to be uncollected goods under the Uncollected Goods Act 1996 and— (a) the road transport authority is taken to be the possessor of the vehicle under that Act; and (b) the responsible person for the vehicle is taken to be the owner of the vehicle; and (c) the road transport authority may dispose of the vehicle in accordance with that Act, part 3; and (d) reasonable costs of the possessor in complying with that Act are taken to include the cost of moving the vehicle to the retention area. (4) However, the responsible person for the vehicle is not required to pay costs under the Uncollected Goods Act 1996, section 26 (2) (a) or (b) if the person satisfies the road transport authority that the vehicle was stolen or illegally taken or used at the relevant time. Note The Uncollected Goods Act 1996, s 26 (2) (a) and (b) require the owner to pay the reasonable costs incurred by the possessor in complying with that Act and the possessor’s reasonable costs in storing and maintaining the goods before they are collected.